Word Pairings Between Two Different Korean Forms

Welcome to today’s Korean article. I believe that some languages have the same concept or principle for what you’re about to read. On the other hand, I also think that other languages don’t have the fuss of dealing with this concept. For Korean, this principle is very common and widely used in many ways. I would say that it’s even essential.

Therefore, I hope by the time you finish reading this that you might more effectively learn Korean. I am very sure that you will easily understand and use this principle. Now, let’s look a little deeper into this.

Almost every single Korean word have two kinds of forms, being: the Pure Korean form and the Chinese-Korean form.

Pure Korean Form

Pure Korean form are the most commonly seen words. Even kids as little as five years old can understand Pure Korean words. Over 95 percent of Korean words have less than four syllables, because Koreans prefer to use short and simple words. Therefore, Koreans can communicate quickly and simply, and children can easily learn to pronounce such words. Let’s check out some example words.

• 이빨 - teeth
• 눈 - eyes
• 아픔 - pain
• 사랑 - love
• 먹다 - to eat
• 자다 - to sleep
• 바쁘다 - be busy
• 시끄럽다 - be noisy
• 지우개 - eraser
• 땅콩 - peanuts

Chinese-Korean Form

Korean people accepted Chinese characters a long time ago and also have been using them for quite some time. Therefore, these words their own pronunciations. Despite this, the pronunciation is quite similar to the Chinese language. The position of Chinese characters in Asia is like that of Latin letters in Europe. This is the reason why Chinese letters have influenced the Korean language, as well as many other Asian languages, just as Latin letters influenced Western languages. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words are usually Pure Korean form words, so learners don’t have to worry about this. Let’s check out the example words.

• 치아 - teeth
• 안구 - eyes
• 통증 - pain
• 애정 - love
• 섭취하다 - to eat
• 수면하다 - to sleep
• 분주하다 - be busy
• 소란스럽다 - be noisy
• 학교 - school
• 회의 - meeting

Then the question is when do Koreans actually use Chinese-Korean form words? They usually use them in professional, official, legal, scientific, and academic settings. So using Chinese-Korean words can be a bit stiff and dry. This is not always the case, though, just a little bit. You can read them on legal documents or hear them from doctors or lawyers. I am very sure that you know what that feeling is.

What should I say for non-pair form Korean words?

Sometimes, some Pure Korean form words do not have the equivalent Chinese-Korean form pair words - and the vice versa can also happen. Why? Because sometimes Korean concepts do not exist in the Chinese language or culture, and vice versa. This is likely to happen in any language or culture. Sometimes, Koreans just don’t use Chinese-Korean words because they are too long or hard to pronounce. Like I said, Koreans prefer to use short and simple words.

Let’s check out the example words.

As you can see, there are some words that have no pairing in the other form. However, as time passes, some words will have their own pair word. Or, in other cases, some words will lose their respective form pair word. But this process is happening very slowly, so learners shouldn’t have to worry about it at all. As long as you are aware of the concept of Korean forms and their pair words, this will improve your fluency in the Korean language.

Loanwords

Like other languages, the Korean language has many loanwords. English loanwords are the most common, and then other Asian languages’ loan words are the next most prevalent. Normally loanwords don’t have Korean form pair words unless they are a special case. Why? Like I wrote already, this is because some other languages or cultures don’t have the exact or similar concept in Korean language or culture. In these cases, the concepts are usually religious, political, historical, or cultural words. The interesting thing is that many food words are loanwords in other languages. Let’s check out the example words.

After reading all this, you may have one final question. Must I learn all the pair words? The answer is no, you don’t have to. This is because even native Koreans don’t know all the pair words. Some native Koreans don’t even bother to distinguish “Chinese-Korean words” or “Pure Korean words”. So, learning and using perfect pair words is not your top priority. The top priority is a smoother communication between the two form. I hope this article is useful and can help many of you Korean language learners. Good day!

Hero image by chuttersnap (CC0 1.0)